NetBeans™ C/C++ Development Pack 5.5 Installation and Setup Instructions

Contents


Prerequisites

This topic specifies the prerequisites that must be met before you start to install NetBeans™ C/C++ Development Pack 5.5.

Required Software

The following software must be installed before you attempt to install NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack 5.5:

  • NetBeans IDE 5.5

  • JDK 5.0 must be installed on your system. If you do not have an installation of JDK version 5.0, you cannot proceed with the installation. For details, see the Required Software topic in the Release Notes.

Supported Platforms

NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack has been tested on the following operating systems:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
  • Red Hat Fedora Core 3
  • Solaris™ 10 Operating System (Solaris OS) (SPARCŪ and x86/x64 Platform Edition)

NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack also runs on the following platforms:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4
  • Solaris™ 8 OS (SPARC® and x86/x64 Platform Edition) and Solaris™ 9 OS (SPARC® and x86/x64 Platform Edition)
  • Various other Linux distributions

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Installing the Software

This section contains instructions for installing the NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack on all supported platforms.

Windows

Following are instructions for installing NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack on the Microsoft Windows platform.

Before You Start

The following restrictions apply to the installation on the Microsoft Windows platform:

  • The installer first extracts the required files to the default temporary directory defined by the TEMP environment variable. If the amount of disk space in the temporary directory is less than required, the installation might fail or proceed incorrectly.
    If you encounter this problem, you can increase the space allocated for the TEMP environment variable or specify a different temporary directory that has sufficient space. To specify a temporary directory for the installation, use the following commands from a command window:

    > cd location-of-installer
    > netbeans-cnd-5_5-windows.exe -is:tempdir temporary-directory

To Install

  1. When you have downloaded the installer file, netbeans-cnd-5_5-windows.exe, double-click the installer's icon to launch the installer.

  2. At the Welcome page of the installation wizard, click Next.

  3. Respond to the license agreement and click Next.

  4. At the installation directory page of the installation wizard, accept the NetBeans IDE directory found by the wizard or select a different IDE installation. Click Next.

  5. Verify that the installation location is correct and that you have adequate space on your system for the installation.

  6. Click Next to begin the installation.

  7. When the installation is complete, click Finish to exit the wizard.
Note: If you encounter problems successfully completing the software installation, see Troubleshooting for full descriptions and suggested workarounds for unresolved issues that could affect the installation process.


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Solaris™ OS

Following are instructions for installing NeteBeans C/C++ Development Pack on the Solaris OS platform.

In the instructions below, replace your_binary_executable with one of the following:

  • Solaris™ OS, SPARC®: netbeans-cnd-5_5-solaris-sparc.bin
  • Solaris™ OS, x86/x64 Platform Edition: netbeans-cnd-5_5-solaris-x86.bin

To Install

  1. When you have downloaded the installer file, your_binary_executable, navigate to the directory that contains the file.

  2. If necessary, change the permissions on the installer file to make the binary executable by using the command shown below at a command prompt. 
    $ chmod +x your_binary_executable
  3. Launch the installer by using the command shown below at a command prompt. 
    $ ./your_binary_executable
  4. At the Welcome page of the installation wizard, click Next.

  5. Respond to the license agreement and click Next.

  6. At the installation directory page of the installation wizard, accept the NetBeans IDE directory found by the wizard or select a different IDE installation. Click Next.

  7. Verify that the installation location is correct and that you have adequate space on your system for the installation.

  8. Click Next to begin the installation.

  9. When the installation is complete, click Finish to exit the wizard.
Note: If you encounter problems successfully completing the software installation, see Troubleshooting for full descriptions and suggested workarounds for unresolved issues that could affect the installation process.


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Linux

Following are instructions for installing the NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack on Linux platforms.

To Install

  1. When you have downloaded the installer file, netbeans-cnd-5_5-linux.bin, navigate to the directory that contains the file.

  2. If necessary, change the permissions on the installer file to make the binary executable by using the command shown below at a command prompt. 
    $ chmod +x netbeans-cnd-5_5-linux.bin
  3. Launch the installer by using the command shown below at a command prompt. 
    $ ./netbeans-cnd-5_5-linux.bin
  4. At the Welcome page of the installation wizard, click Next.

  5. Respond to the license agreement and click Next.

  6. At the installation directory page of the installation wizard, accept the NetBeans IDE directory found by the wizard or select a different IDE installation. Click Next.

  7. Verify that the installation location is correct and that you have adequate space on your system for the installation.

  8. Click Next to begin the installation.

  9. When the installation is complete, click Finish to exit the wizard.
Note: If you encounter problems successfully completing the software installation, see Troubleshooting for full descriptions and suggested workarounds for unresolved issues that could affect the installation process.


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Installing and Setting Up the Compilers and Tools

Netbeans C/C++ Development Pack requires a C compiler, C++ compiler, make utility, and gdb debugger.

Windows

NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack has been tested with the following compilers and tools:

  • Cygwin 1.5.21
  • Cygwin gcc-core (C compiler) 3.4.x
  • Cygwin gcc-c++ (C++ compiler) 3.4.x
  • Cygwin gdb (GNU Debugger) 6.5.50
  • Cygwin make 3.80

If you already have the Cygwin GNU compilers, GNU make, and gdb debugger installed on your Windows system and your path is set up correctly to find them, make sure that you have the correct versions. If you have the correct versions, then no further setup is necessary.

To check the versions of your Cygwin compilers and tools:

  1. Check the version of Cygwin by typing: 

    cygcheck -c cygwin
  2. Check the versions of the compilers, make, and gdb by typing: 
    gcc --version
g++ --version
make --version
gdb --version

To install the GNU compilers, make, and gdb debugger from cygwin.com:

  1. Download the Cygwin setup.exe program by clicking the Install or Update Now! icon in the middle of the page.

  2. Run the setup.exe program. Accept the defaults until you reach the Select Your Internet Connection page. Select the option on this page that is best for you. Click Next.

  3. On the Choose Download Site page, choose a download site you think might be relatively close to you. Click Next.

  4. On the Select Packages page you select the packages to download. Click the + next to Devel to expand the development tools category. You may want to resize the window so you can see more of it at one time.

  5. Select each package you want to download by clicking the Skip label next to it. At a minimum, select gcc-core: C compiler, gcc-g++: C++ compiler, gdb: The GNU Debugger, and make: the GNU version of the 'make' utility.

  6. Now add the Compiler directory to your path:

    1. Open the Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel) and double-click the System program.

    2. Select the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables.

    3. In the System Variables panel of the Environment Variables dialog, select the Path variable and click Edit.

    4. In the Edit System Variable dialog, copy the value of the Path variable by typing Ctrl-C and click Cancel.

    5. In the User Variables panel of the Environment Variables dialog, click New.

    6. In the New User Variable dialog, type Path in the Variable Name field. Move the cursor to the Variable Value field and type Ctrl-V to paste the value you copied from the System Variables.

    7. Add the paths to the cygwin-directory\usr\bin and cygwin-directory\bin directories to the Path variable, and click OK. By default, cygwin-directory is C:\cygwin.

    8. Click OK in the Environment Variables dialog and the System Properties dialog.

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Solaris OS

NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack has been tested with the following compilers and tools:

  • Sun Studio 11 C compiler 5.8 and gcc 3.4.3
  • Sun Studio 11 C++ compiler 5.8 and g++ 3.4.3
  • gdb (GNU debugger) 6.2.1
  • Solaris make and gmake 3.80

Sun Studio 11 Compilers

If you want to use the Sun Studio 11 compilers:

  • If you have Sun Studio 11 software installed, ensure that /installation directory/bin is in your path before you start the NetBeans IDE.
  • If you do not have Sun Studio 11 software installed, you can download it free at http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/downloads/.

To download and install the Sun Studio 11 compilers:

  1. Create a directory for the downloaded file. You must have write permission for this directory.

  2. Download the file for your platform into the download directory.

  3. Go to the download directory, and uncompress and untar the downloaded file. 
    bzcat filename | tar xvf -
  4. Follow the instructions in Chapter 2 of the Sun Studio 11 Installation Guide for Solaris Platforms to install the C compiler, C++ compiler, and required Solaris patches.

Add the path to the Sun Studio software to your PATH before starting the NetBeans IDE.

GNU Compilers and GNU make

If you want to use the GNU compilers and GNU make:

  • If you have a standard installation of the Solaris 10 OS, the compilers and gmake are installed in /usr/sfw/bin. Make sure that this location is in your path before staring the NetBeans IDE.
  • If the compilers and gmake are not installed on your system, you can download them from http://www.sunfreeware.com.

To download and install the GNU compilers and make

  1. Download gcc 3.4.6 and make 3.81.

  2. If the download zip files are not automatically gunzipped during download, unzip them with gunzip.

  3. Install the packages with the pkgadd command.

Make sure to include the GNU compiler directory and the GNU make directory in your path before starting the NetBeans IDE.

gdb Debugger

Whether you use the Sun Studio compilers and Solaris make or the GNU compilers and GNU make, you must have the gbd debugger to debug applications in NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack. You can download gdb 6.2.1 from http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/freeware/s10pkgs_download.xml.

To download and install gdb:

  1. Under "Select a Download" at the botttom of the page, select the Solaris 10 Companion Software download for your Solaris platform.

  2. On the Download page, accept the License Agreement and select the gbd - GNU source level debugger package.

  3. Become root (superuser).

  4. Unzip the file with bunzip and install gbd with pkgadd: 
    bunzip2 SFWgdb.bz2
pkgadd -d SFWgbd

Make sure to include the path to gdb in your path before starting the NetBeans IDE.


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Linux

NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack has been tested with the following compilers and tools:

  • Sun Studio Express 2 C compiler and Red Hat Fedora Core 3 gcc
  • Sun Studio Express 2 C++ compiler and Red Hat Fedora Core 3 g++
  • Red Hat Fedora Core 3 gdb
  • Red Hat Fedora Core make

To download and install the Sun Studio Express 2 compilers:

  1. On the Sun Studio Express web page ( http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/downloads/express.jsp, type your email address to join the Sun Studio Express Program notification list, and click Download Now.

  2. On the Sun Studio Express Mailing List Notification page, click the download icon.

  3. On the Sun Studio Express download page, accept the License Agreement and select the download file for the Linux (x86) Platform.

  4. Download the file into a scratch directory, and then follow the instructions in the Sun Studio Express README file at http://developers.sun.com/sunstudio/downloads/express_readme.html to install the software and set your path.


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Verifying the Installation

To verify that the installation is correct, start the NetBeans IDE, build a sample project, and run it in the gdb debugger.

Windows

To start the IDE on Microsoft Windows machines, do one of the following:

  • Double-click the NetBeans IDE icon on your desktop.

  • From the Start menu, select Programs > NetBeans 5.5 > NetBeans IDE.

To build a sample project and run it in the debugger:

  1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.

  2. In the Categories panel on the Choose Project page of the wizard, expand the Samples category and the C/C++ Development subcategory, and select the C/C++ subcategory.

  3. In the Projects panel, select the Welcome project. Click Next.

  4. On the Project Name and Location page, click Finish.

  5. In the Projects tab of the IDE, right-click the Welcome1 project and choose Build Project. If your compilers and make utility are installed correctly and the path to them is set, build output is displayed in the Output window and the project builds successfully.

  6. Double-click the welcome.cc file to open it in the Source Editor.

  7. Right-click in the left margin of the Source Editor window and choose Show Line Numbers.

  8. Set a breakpoint by clicking in the left margin of the Source Editor window next to line 33.

  9. Right-click the project and choose Debug Project. If the gdb debugger is installed corrected and the path to it is set, gdb starts up, the Debugger tabs are displayed, and the Welcome application runs and stops at the breakpoint.

  10. Choose Run > Continue to run the application to completion.

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Solaris OS

To start the NetBeans IDE on Solaris systems:

  1. Navigate to the bin subdirectory of your installation.

  2. Execute the launcher script by typing ./netbeans.

To build a sample project and run it in the debugger:

  1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.

  2. In the Categories panel on the Choose Project page of the wizard, expand the Samples category and the C/C++ Development subcategory, and select the C/C++ subcategory.

  3. In the Projects panel, select the Welcome project. Click Next.

  4. On the Project Name and Location page, click Finish.

  5. In the Projects tab of the IDE, right-click the Welcome1 project and choose Properties.

  6. In the Project Properties dialog box, set the Compiler Collection property to the compiler collection you want to validate and click OK.

  7. In the Projects tab, right-click the project and choose Build Project. If your compilers and make utility are installed correctly and the path to them is set, build output is displayed in the Output window and the project builds successfully.

  8. Double-click the welcome.cc file to open it in the Source Editor.

  9. Right-click in the left margin of the Source Editor window and choose Show Line Numbers.

  10. Set a breakpoint by clicking in the left margin of the Source Editor window next to line 33.

  11. Right-click the project and choose Debug Project. If the gdb debugger is installed corrected and the path to it is set, gdb starts up, the Debugger tabs are displayed, and the Welcome application runs and stops at the breakpoint.

  12. Choose Run > Continue to run the application to completion.

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Linux

To start the NetBeans IDE on Linux systems:

  1. Navigate to the bin subdirectory of your installation.

  2. Execute the launcher script by typing ./netbeans.

To build a sample project and run it in the debugger:

  1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.

  2. In the Categories panel on the Choose Project page of the wizard, expand the Samples category and the C/C++ Development subcategory, and select the C/C++ subcategory.

  3. In the Projects panel, select the Welcome project. Click Next.

  4. On the Project Name and Location page, click Finish.

  5. In the Projects tab of the IDE, right-click the Welcome1 project and choose Properties.

  6. In the Project Properties dialog box, set the Compiler Collection property to the compiler collection you want to validate and click OK.

  7. In the Projects tab, right-click the project and choose Build Project. If your compilers and make utility are installed correctly and the path to them is set, build output is displayed in the Output window and the project builds successfully.

  8. Double-click the welcome.cc file to open it in the Source Editor.

  9. Right-click in the left margin of the Source Editor window and choose Show Line Numbers.

  10. Set a breakpoint by clicking in the left margin of the Source Editor window next to line 33.

  11. Right-click the project and choose Debug Project. If the gdb debugger is installed corrected and the path to it is set, gdb starts up, the Debugger tabs are displayed, and the Welcome application runs and stops at the breakpoint.

  12. Choose Run > Continue to run the application to completion.

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Uninstalling the Software

Windows

To Uninstall the Software

  1. Shut down the IDE.
  2. From the Control Panel, start Add or Remove Programs, select NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack 5.5 and click Change/Remove.
  3. Follow the instructions in the uninstaller.

Solaris OS, Linux

To Uninstall the Software

  1. Shut down the IDE.
  2. Navigate to the /NetBeans-5.5-directory/cnd1/_uninst directory.
  3. Type ./uninstaller to run the InstallShield uninstaller.

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Troubleshooting

If you experience problems installing or running the software, see the list of issues below for workarounds. For a complete list of known issues, system requirements and other useful information, see the Release Notes.

Following are the unresolved issues for this release that could affect or disrupt the installation process:

  • Installer exceptions when running on JRE 1.4.

    Description: On Microsoft Windows, if there is no preinstalled compatible JDK on the target machine, the InstallShield Windows launcher allows you to select a custom java.exe. After you select a custom java.exe the installer does not perform a validation for compatibility. This means that if you select a java.exe from a 1.4 JRE, which is not compatible with the installer, you will encounter a number of exceptions. The issue exists in the InstallShield framework.

    Workaround: Select a java.exe from a 1.5 JRE. See Required Software for information about downloading and installing a compatible JDK.

  • Installer fails to start correctly on UNIX.

    Description: The installer is known to fail to start up correctly on UNIX when is there is little or no disk space in the root directory of the filesystem. The problem exists in the InstallShield framework. This issue was observed on machines with less than 2.5 MB free in the root of the filesystem.

    Workaround: Free up enough disk space in the root of the filesystem and restart the installer.

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